| Parties | GlaxoSmithKline South Africa (Pty) Ltd vs David Lewis N.O,Norman Manoim N.O.,Yasmin Carrim N.O.,The Competition Tribunal,Mpho Makhathini,Nelisiwe Mthethwa,Musi Msomi,Elijah Paul Musoke,Tom Myers,Aids Healthcare Foundation Ltd |
|---|
| Summary | The Competition Appeal Court dismissed an application by
GlaxosmithKline South Africa (GSK) to review and appeal a
decision of the Competition Tribunal not to make an
agreement between the Competition Commission and
GlaxosmithKline South Africa (GSK) into a consent order.
Background In September 2002, the Treatment Action Campaign
(TAC), a non governmental organisation active in the health
care sector, led a group of individuals and organisations
that initiated a complaint against GSK with the Commission,
alleging that it had contravened the Competition Act by
excessively pricing its antiretroviral drugs (‘ARV’s’)
used to treat HIV positive persons. Shortly thereafter in
January 2003, another group of complainants the Aids
Healthcare Foundation and Others (AHF) lodged a complaint
with the Commission. The TAC and AHF complaints related to
substantially the same conduct. For this reason the AHF
complainants were willing to have the Commission consolidate
their complaint with that of the TAC, and have them
investigated together. The Commission then investigated the
complaint. Just prior to the date when the Commission would
have had to refer the complaint to the Tribunal, it entered
into an agreement with GSK in which it agreed not to refer
the matter, in return for the applicant agreeing to licence
various generic manufacturers to manufacture ARV’s. The
Commission was satisfied with this arrangement, as it
appears, so was the TAC and its consortium of complainants,
which also entered into a similar agreement. However the AHF
complainants, unlike the TAC, were not a party to the
agreement and allege that they were never consulted about
its terms. The AHF complainants then decided to refer their
complaint to the Tribunal themselves. On 22 November 2004
GSK applied to have the December... |
|---|
